Recently in Stranded: The Colorwork Challenge Category
Pattern: My own charted scrollwork, seen here
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease (197 yards; 3 oz; 80% acrylic, 20% wool) in #620-099 Fisherman, #620-152 Oxford Grey and #620-102 Ranch Red
Needles: US4
Astute readers will note that this is in fact the same yarn as the gnomes I made last year. Stashed Wool-Ease goes on and on, and as you can see, I still have a lot more. I've put the leftovers in a destash pile. Anyway, this is your basic hat, with a bit of swirly color to make it more fun. If you'd like to try your hand at basic colorwork, my scrollwork pattern is really easy. (Just let me know if you want to borrow it, mm-kay?)
My sister-in-law has told me that this is Hailey's new favorite hat! I made another colorwork hat for her last year, and the year before I made a chunky cabled one. I've decided that for every birthday from now on she'll receive, in addition to all her other gifts, a hat from her Auntie MJ. Imagine her winter collection when she's in her 20s! I like to think I've started a tradition with my niece. :-)
Thanks for the compliments on Gnome #2! He was really fun to make. I still have over half the yarn left over--Lion Brand Wool-Ease is great on the yardage. A good and a bad thing, you know?
I've been busy trying to write the mother of all kal updates (lo, 150 knitters), in addition to doing some freelance. And getting sick (I finally caught the bug that's been going around and has incapacitated one-third of our gym members). I did find a good link to share this week: Shake the Globe, an OfficeMax "fun" site. Shake it a lot! If you mouse over the tab at the bottom right, you can find more fun goodies.
Other things I'm working on:
A simple shawl.
Yummy merino/silk.
A colorwork hat for this sweet little girl, who obligingly posed for her auntie.
On your mark, get set, GO!
What are your projects for this knitalong?
I've got a few. First, I have a couple of scrollwork motifs I'd like to incorporate into a hat:
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A small stitch/row motif like this makes a good edging. And then a bigger version of the scrollwork:
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I've decided to make the scrollwork red. The background of the bottom third of the hat will be grey; the background for the top two-thirds will be cream. Perhaps a pompom to top it off.
Second, I found some African motifs I want to put on a sweater. Hello, steeking! Then perhaps a pair of mittens or gloves for those negative temps in Southern California. I fell in love with Moth Heaven Julia's gorgeousLatvian Mittens. So, three projects.
Is this your first colorwork project? If it isn't, what was your first, and has it survived the test of time?
I've done 3 colorwork projects before--three hats, for last year's Norwegian Knits-Along. That was fun. I gave the first hat to my niece, the second hat to our good friends' daughter, and I kept the third hat. It's held up, considering I've taken it *everywhere* and washed it at least three times.
Happy swatching, everyone! Comments closed for this post.
